Film and video production in the greater Tokyo, Japan area.Ice Block is a group of media specialists in the greater Tokyo area focused on the creation of unique and memorable multi-media content. There are countless ways our clients use rich media content to increase the visibility of their business and generate greater interest in their services.

We recently had the pleasure of being invited to work on a shoot in Hong Kong. Normally, we just toss all the pictures for a photo gallery into a slideshow and let you infer the implications yourself. Hong Kong is such a unique place that we felt the photos would benefit from a bit of explanation.

Buildings in the business district.

Hong Kong has a really unique vibe to it, with its history split between China and the British Empire. To give you some idea of how sharp this China/British dichotomy is cut, our hotel was in the Tsim Sha Tsui district, on Chatham Road.

The only dichotomy sharper than that one is the wealth disparity. It isn't just a matter of perception, Hong Kong "has the largest income inequality among advanced economies" (Wikipedia, Bro).

A typical intersection in a typical residential district.

Neighbourhoods like that sit right next to expansive commercial districts. What does the shopping look like you ask?

All construction starts with workers lashing bamboo shoots together.

This profound income disparity might not be the face of the recent revolution, but it's easy to see how such a gap would fuel it.

Oh, and the revolution? It's a real thing.

The activists have taken over the main highway that runs through the business district. Another group has taken over the main thoroughfare in the commercial district. The protests are well organised with a steady flow of donations being filtered into the community as necessary. There are amenities like kitchens and showers, but the most interesting instalment is pictured below.

Right there on the right, under the foot bridge.

The blue and yellow tents in the right of that picture are a library that was erected to give the children of protesting families a place to study and do their homework. We didn't take any close up pictures of the library because of signs requesting continued anonymity for the children who are involved through family but not representing the protest.

Ice Block is not a political opinion entity by any stretch. We make movies and sometimes take pictures too. The following shots are not designed to represent our ideology, but instead capture what is happening at the protests.

A sign resting on the hand-built barricades that protect the protestors' stretch of highway.

Signs are plastered everywhere.

Some are designed to invigorate the activists.

Some are more indicative of something darker.

These guys are there too.

The trip was an incredible one and we're really amped to share the film that brought us to Hong Kong, but that's going to take a bit more time.